NASA与17家公司推进城市飞行运输计划
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has now signed Space Act Agreements with 17 companies from the aviation industry, including Boeing, Uber, and AirMap, as part of its plans to bring air transport solutions and systems in and around densely populated metro areas through its urban air mobility (UAM) grand challenge.
美国国家航空航天局(NASA)目前已与包括波音、Uber和AirMap在内的航空业17家公司签署了《空间法》协议，作为其计划的一部分，该局将通过其城市空中机动(UAM)大挑战，在人口稠密的地铁地区及其周边地区引进航空运输解决方案和系统。
According to the agency, if UAM is fully implemented it could enable the air transportation of things like small packages, taxi services, medical services, such as patient ambulance transportation, and cargo delivery to regional or rural communities.
据该机构表示，如果UAM得到全面实施，它将使诸如小包裹、出租车服务、医疗服务(如病人救护车运输)以及向地区或农村社区运送货物等的空中运输成为可能。
Image: Supplied/NASA
"With this step, we're continuing to put the pieces together that we hope will soon make real the long-anticipated vision of smaller piloted and unpiloted vehicles providing a variety of services around cities and in rural areas," NASA associate administrator for aeronautics Robert Pearce said.
美国航天局航空副局长罗伯特皮尔斯说：“通过这一步，我们将继续把我们希望很快实现的愿景，即在城市和农村地区提供各种服务的小型无人驾驶和无人驾驶车辆。”。
As part of the UAM grand challenge, NASA said it hopes to bring together different companies that intend to develop and operate air vehicles or support services to test the readiness of the capabilities, while also helping the Federal Aviation Administration formalise best practices and regulations.
作为UAM大挑战的一部分，NASA表示，它希望将打算开发和运营飞行器或支持服务的不同公司聚集在一起，以测试这些能力的就绪性，同时也帮助联邦航空管理局将最佳做法和法规正式化。
"Our partnership with the FAA will be a key factor in the successful and safe outcomes for industry that we can expect from conducting these series of Grand Challenges during the coming years," Pearce said.
皮尔斯说:“我们与联邦航空局的伙伴关系,将是未来几年开展这一系列重大挑战取得成功和安全成果的关键因素。”
Signing the five-year agreements has been the first step of the multi-stage challenge that would see the official competition take place in 2022, NASA said. Development technology testing is planned for this year to verify relevant flight testing scenarios, assist in data collection, and assess readiness.
NASA表示，签署这份为期五年的协议是多阶段挑战的第一步，正式比赛将于2022年举行。开发技术测试计划在今年进行，以验证相关的飞行测试场景，协助收集数据，并评估准备情况。
